This invention concerns a series terminal with two supply wire contact points for two-wire power supply to electrical or electronic components, especially initiators, each of which is connected to the two supply wire contact points of a series terminal.
Series terminals of this type are known in practice primarily as initiator terminals; however, they can also be used to supply power to electrical or electronic components of any kind. To simplify the description, reference will be made below only to initiators, but without thereby limiting the possible use of these terminals to this specific type of electronic component.
Initiators, such as transducers, thyristors, or the like, are generally manufactured in practice as three-wire initiators. Two wires are used for the power supply and one wire to carry the output signal of the initiator. It is customary to connect all three wires to the series terminal associated with the particular initiator, which for this purpose also has a through wire with two contact points at the ends for its two supply wire contact points, so that the output signal is carried through the series terminal and can be tapped at the second contact point of the through wire opposite the input end.
It is also known how to equip series terminals of this type for multiple-wire initiators, for example four-wire initiators, with correspondingly multiple through wires, and to indicate the particular circuit condition and/or the power supply to the initiator connected to the series terminal by luminous indicators (for example, LED displays) built into the series terminal. Other supplementary equipment for series terminals for initiators is also possible in known ways, for example the incorporation of a ground wire connection terminal that makes contact with an assembly rail when the series terminal is put in place on it, which then serves as a ground bus for all of the series terminals resting on the assembly rail.
Independently of the multiple variations of design of such series terminals for initiators described briefly above, the invention is concerned with a fundamental problem that is present in all series terminals of this type known heretofore.
For two-wire power supply to initiators, it is well known that each supply wire contact point of the series terminals has bridge connectors for cross-bridging adjacent series terminals on an assembly rail, which then are supplied with power by jumpers running in the direction of the assembly rail, for example by individual bridges from terminal to terminal, or by jumpers for a number of terminals similar to a bus, starting from a so-called feeder terminal.
The use of only one feeder terminal for all initiator terminals located next to one another on an assembly rail substantially reduces the wiring expense for the power supply to the initiators, and if only one series terminal is used per initiator, it permits a clear and obvious power circuit assignment for each initiator.
However, it is a drawback that such feeder terminals always represent a special design that has to be stored separately by the user in addition to the initiator terminals and the necessary accessories, for example jumpers, terminal plates for the initiator contacts, and has to be classified for the particular need. The storage and classification expense is also increased in this case by the necessity of keeping two types of feeder terminals on hand, depending on whether the supply power line to the feeder terminal mounted on the assembly rail is desired from one side or the other of the assembly rail.
It is the purpose of this invention to eliminate the drawbacks mentioned above.